This being the June/July edition of Hope Church News, I’ll go with the 2-month theme and focus on two different things for ‘and finally’. They’re not related, just relevant.
Transition
May brought significant transitions for our staff at Hope Church, as Laurie Braaksma resigned from her role as Church Administrator and in mid-May began a new position, and Anne Duinkerken resigned from her position, concluding her work as Youth Ministry Director in mid-August. I know many of you were able to be at the thank-you reception held for Laurie on May 18 as we celebrated her 15 years of staff service to the congregation, and we will have the opportunity to express our gratitude to Anne for her service at an event on September 28.
In the midst of these changes, I ask for your prayers for Laurie and Anne as they move through these transitions and for the staff and leadership of our congregation as we navigate this time. We have a good process moving forward to find new leadership for the Church Administrator and Youth Ministry Director roles and your prayers and support are important to us for that.
But such a time of transition is also inevitably stressful for the staff as we deal with new routines and responsibilities and feel the uncertainty of when we will have new people in place. So, please pray for us and please be patient with us! We have a terrific staff and generous volunteers and strong leadership, but things are different and some things will perhaps fall through the cracks. When that does happen, please let us know in your most gracious way and know that we are doing your best – and know that we’re always open to compliments as feedback too ☺. Thank you.
Summit on Race & Inclusion ~ August Discussion about Racial Equity & White Privilege
I’m writing this just the day after attending the Summit on Race and Inclusion sponsored by the Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance (LEDA) and hosted at Hope College (and with Hope Church as a Gold Sponsor). As part of the large group of 750 people attending, we had a wonderful group of a dozen folks from Hope Church there, and after taking in the very engaging and full day of speakers at the Summit, our Hope Church cohort met back at church to process and discuss. There was a lot to process and discuss!
And even as I continue to percolate a lot in my own mind and heart – unintentional bias; dominant narratives; white privilege; multi-racial coalitions; structural racism; community organizing – it was extremely helpful for our group to get together to share impressions, ideas, frustrations, and to make connections and insights as we do so. That’s what the Reconciliation Ministry and Consistory is going to continue to find ways to do, and here’s one such opportunity: Sunday Brunch, August 17 – Discussion of Racial Equity & White Privilege (more details to come). This a follow up both to the conference that Pastor Jill attended in March and to the LEDA Summit, but the discussion is open to all of us. I encourage you to attend, joining your voice and ears and mind and heart to how Hope Church is engaging these issues.
We all do think about these things in some way on our own, but it is as we gather in community both at Hope Church and beyond that the Spirit most powerfully speaks and creates faithful directions for us. Those are directions that the Belhar Confession describes this way:
…that the world may see that separation, enmity and hatred between people and groups is sin which Christ has already conquered.”
Peace,
Pastor Gordon